I plan to leave my mark on the baseball world; this is where it all begins.

The Bullpen Savior, and Future Saviors

They should call him the ‘bullpen savior’, Tim Wakefield that is. Not only does Jason Varitek get an off day when he pitches, but as of late, the bullpen has gotten one as well. No wonder the Red Sox picked up his option for this year.

He may be one of the oldest guys on the team, but he is pretty durable. He is always able to go pretty deep into games whether he is effective or not. There are only a few instances when he has really short Dice-K like outings, but that’s when the knuckleball is completely missing the strike zone, or if the opposing team is able to time the knuckleball and… hit it.

I like when the knuckleball is dancing, and I love that I can rely on it while I am at school. I wasn’t completely resourceless though. In English class, we were in the computer lab researching the background of a novel that we were about to read.

Computers=internet=Red Sox.

I opened everything that I possibly could: the live box score, gameday, and MLB.TV. By the grace of God, both Gameday and MLB.TV were working (they weren’t the other days that I had tried it). Too bad I am inept when it comes to the school computers, so I couldn’t figure out how to turn the volume down. I realized this when I heard a low mumbling coming from my computer, which happened to be MLB.TV. I quickly turned it off before my teacher could notice.

I watched the game on Gameday, and I received periodic text messages from my father as well. I was a bit disappointed that I wasn’t able to see Nick Green’s first homer of the season, since he is my project and all, but at least he finally hit it, and he wasn’t the only one.

It only took us one day to sweep the Twins, and once again, one of my projects led the way. Jeff Bailey got the Sox to a 3-0 lead with a nice home run, in his first at-bat of the season, over the green monster. Yeah, that’s not Chris Carter, my other project.

I’m pretty sad that Carter is being optioned to Triple-AAA Pawtucket. I feel like he didn’t get a fair chance. He only had five at-bats, four of which he struck out in. I know that isn’t very good, but if Papi says that we can’t judge him by fifty at-bats (believe me buddy, I don’t), then we can’t judge Carter in five. He didn’t even play in a full game this season.

It’s not like we are getting short changed with Bailey though. There is a reason that he was the guy competing with Carter for the roster spot, and honestly, I would have been happy with either of them. Plus, Bailey is the veteran of the two… over 1,000 minor league games, and only 31 major league games. I know there’s no sympathy in baseball, but this guy has to be rewarded for what he has done, and I know what he is able to do.

I’m just wondering why we couldn’t keep Carter. With Baldelli on the 15-Day DL with a hamstring problem, there’s no reason that the Sox couldn’t have Carter as the backup outfielder, and Bailey as the backup first baseman. That would have meant three projects on one team! The replacement could be a project though… perhaps Lars Anderson, though, I was thinking that he would be in AAA for at least a little while longer. Wakefield may be the bullpen savior, but my projects are in the process of becoming saviors themselves.

I bet you guys don’t know where I was July 16, 2007 because if you did, that would be incredibly creepy. I was at the Royals vs Red Sox game, at Fenway Park– the third Fenway Park experience of my life. A guy named Kason Gabbard was pitching that night, and I had never heard of him before that night.

After that night, it was all about Kason Gabbard for me. He pitched a complete game shutout, and I was impressed. My project program was not established back then, but if it was, he would have been a late addition.

I bet some of you know where Kason Gabbard went by the trade deadline of that year. Texas. And who did the Red Sox get? Eric Gagne. Eric let-me-blow-a-save Gagne. I missed my Gabbard, and as soon as that trade happened, I said, “The Red Sox are going to regret this… he’s something special”

I lied. The Red Sox no longer have anything to regret because guess who’s back? Kason Gabbard! I know that he has struggled in Texas, but he is definitely a potential late addition project.

Tonight is the night. The first Red Sox-Yankees game of the year, the thing that I have been waiting for–craving in fact. In honor of this sacred series, my math teacher did not give homework this weekend. In honor of this series, Julia and Scott are having an epic bet. And in honor of Julia, the Red Sox will win.

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17 Comments

as an outsider im so pumped for red sox-yankees. best rivalry in sports and something dramatic is bound to happen. going back to your post a few days ago, i was right behind nyjer in left field. he loved us when we chanted his name and got hyped when he made a play. it was a great night. plus im sure his flip over the rail will be on bloopers throughout ballparks very soon. had he caught it, top ten for sure!

After such a long wait, the first Yankees vs. Red Sox series is finally here !!! … As I’m writing these comments, Mike Lowell just made an outstading “diving through the air” catch of a hard liner off the bat of Nick Swisher that ended the top of the third inning, stranding two Yankee runners on base !!! … Great Play !!! … The Red Sox have taken an early 1-0 lead; and, certainly, the two double plays by the Yankees have helped Joba get out of the first two innings !!! … End of Three: Sox 1, Yanks 0
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Enjoy the game, Elizabeth !!!
— Jimmy Curran, “BY&L”http://baseballtheyankeesandlife.mlblogs.com/

Hi,
I found your blog reciently and I love it. I was at the night game on the 22nd. I’m also a big minor league, especially PawSox, fan and so I hung around the dugout and called Chris Carter over and got his autograph and talked to him for a minute. I also wish the Red Sox would give him a chance. He could be a big help! He is always so nice to the kids at the ballpark and as you know, he can HIT. When Bailey came up my friends where like: “Who is this guy?” I was like, Oh thats Jeff Bailey, he was the IL MVP last year. They were like: Oh, just one of your Pawtucket buddies….and then he hits the home run! It was a great game. terriffic game tonight, go sox!
~Eliana Perlmutter

Congrats on winning Round 1 last night, Elizabeth. It sure had a dramatic ending and I’d like to rewind the tape and change it! But today’s another day and my Yanks will try again. As for Wakefield, he’s amazing. I think you’re lucky to have him. I certainly wouldn’t to try to catch that knuckler of his though!

Your Sox are doing pretty well against those Yanks, eh? :-) First set of bragging rights for ’09 go to Wakefield, Pedroia and co. Congrats. I’m just glad the Mets have the Nats this weekend….we needed something to get us back on track.Ashhttp://ashleymarshall.mlblogs.com

“I bet you guys don’t know where I was July 16, 2007 because if you did, that would be incredibly creepy.” Who writes this stuff?lol… Well it’s the end of April and the Sox are on top. Let’s see what May brings.
Tomhttp://rockymountainway.mlblogs.com

To answer Tom’s question, May will bring the Yankees on top of the AL East, of course! ;) Good luck with your projects! Have a great weekend! P.S. We need an updated Elizabeth post! Your words are too important in this universe not to be heard!

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